Wanted (Sega Master System)

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Wanted was made in 1989 by Sanritsu Denki for the Sega Master System. In the game's story the player is the sheriff of a large territory containing multiple towns. Outlaws appear and try to take over this territory. The game consists of 7 levels and two bonus games. Many of the levels conclude in a boss fight.

The player uses a semi automatic weapon with infinite capacity and infinite ammunition. Health is lost by getting shot, being exposed to a dynamite explosion, shooting outlaws before they draw their weapon or by shooting civilians. Health is regained by killing outlaws with a bomb. The bombs are hidden inside various items and are launched by shooting at them.

The first level is located inside the streets of a town. The second level is a horse riding stage in a desert. The third level plays inside a saloon. The next level is again riding themed but this time the location is a steppe. The fifth stage takes place inside a hotel. The sixth stage is similar to the first one. The last stage is a final boss battle in which the player shoots dynamite while trying to shoot the boss of the outlaws who runs between various cover locations. The two bonus games are played after the riding stages. The first one lets the player shoot bottles. Just the highlighted bottle can be hit. In the second bonus game coins are shot. The bonus games have no other purpose than points. If a certain hit requirement is met the player obtains additional bonus points.

The game features unlimited continuous, which let the player restart from the beginning of the same level. From the same level is not absolutely correct, as losing during the last level, will set the player back to the level before the last level. The Sega Master System Version of Rambo III did the same thing. Compared to Senritsu Denki's later game Assault City, there is no drawback in the usage of the continues. I did reviews on both mentioned games.

The presentation is well made. The graphics are nice and the music fits the Wild West theme. I think the difficulty of the game is despite the infinite continues quite adequate. Furthermore the difficulty can be set to one of three degrees. The black and white art style with single colored items reminds me of the movie Schinder's list and the Sin City comic books. Both those are predated by Wanted. I think the concept of letting the villains draw first, is interesting and rather unique. I am glad I played this game, but I don't particularly like it.

The cover shows rather simple watercolors art. It is well made and I find it pleasing.